Blair, Karen L

Sexual health education (SHE), specifically formal SHE, can play a key role in offering individuals the necessary information, motivation, and skills needed to maintain and improve their sexual health. This study used a survey-based approach to explore the relationship between Canadians' (N = 675) perceived quality of SHE and their feelings and behaviours related to sexual consent and communication, at two time points. This study was informed by two theoretical approaches: sexual script theory and the theory of planned behaviour. Hierarchical regressions were employed to determine how much the participants' education and demographics explained their attitudes, feelings, and behaviours. Perceived quality of SHE predicted consent feelings, and consent and communication behaviours during participants' first sexual experience, and only verbal communication during their most recent sexual experience. This research has furthered our understanding of the long-term impacts of SHE on feelings and behaviours related to sexual consent and communication.

Author Keywords: first sexual experiences, sexual communication, sexual consent, sexual health education, sexual script theory, theory of planned behaviour

The Minority Stress Model proposes that LGBTQ+ people experience stressors unique to their identity that negatively impact their mental well-being. The model also outlines that, in the case of the LGBTQ+ community, two minority coping resources - social support and connection to the LGBTQ+ community – may act as potential minority stress buffers; however, research has been unable to determine if these are effective buffers. The current study used multiple regression and multilevel modelling to test the processes of the Minority Stress Model among 451 LGBTQ+ people over 25 timepoints during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although minority stressors and coping resources were associated with psychological distress in the expected directions, an interesting interaction between the two measures of minority stress was revealed and neither minority coping resource was found to buffer the association between minority stress and distress. In conclusion, the present study found partial support for the Minority Stress Model using longitudinal data but highlights the complex nature of these processes and how they are conceptualised in research.

Author Keywords: identity concealment, LGBTQ+ community, mental health, minority coping, minority stress model, social support